Dwindling
by Predatress
Summary: Today, it is hard for even children to believe in or appreciate the magic of other worldly creatures. A few adults, however, will soon suffer the reality of fairy tales.
1. Chapter 1

1_**4/o9 **__Helly is writing this because I thought it'd be a fun, interesting little idea. Lux - chan isn't particularly fond of me ruining anyone's sanity, but she'll forgive me because we have waiter!Luxord._

_**5/o9 **__A short chapter, but to the point for the most part. Boring, too. Urgh. _

_Ah well. _

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is rightfully Square Enix and Disney's property.

_I just enjoy destroying every shred of childhood memory it provides with my fanfiction. _

**Chapter Start**

"Hey asshole, pay attention!"

_Dull indigo orbs moved to rest on the large automobile, face a perfect mask until that moment. Lips drew back into a furious snarl, sharp teeth ground together and dark brows furrowed to create an enraged scowl. A piercing hiss as loud as thunder echoed from pale throat, and the car's front exploded and splintered from the force of a measly punch, seriously wounding the offender within. _

"Oh my God, monster!"

"What the fuck!? Someone, call the cops!"

"This shit'll make me famous on YouTube!"

_End Dream_

"Blondie, go unlock the doors. Opening is in five." Luxord turned around and caught the keys that were aimed for his face, rolling his eyes at the redhead.

"Sure thing, Pyro –,"

"I only caught the kitchen on fire _once_, you jerk!" Axel pointed accusingly at the other, as if that made his crime more acceptable, "and it wasn't my fault!" The blonde grinned, walking over to the door and sorting through the ring of keys. Unlocking the doors, he tossed the keys back to Axel and made his way to the locker room to put on his waist apron and a dab of cologne. The restaurant was a fairly high - class place, so it was only proper he tried to be a _little_ professional, never mind the fact he was a recovering gambler. The pay here was great, and so it was sometimes hard to fight off the temptation but he's managed quite well.

He decided to take an extra minute to make sure there were no stains or " kick me" post - its on his back, looking over the black vest, pants and the apron that hung from his hips and then the white dress - shirt. No one really looked at feet, so he didn't bother checking his shoes. Assured Axel had not sabotaged his attire, Luxord slipped out, prepared for his day. It went by at fairly the usual routine: run around seating and taking people's orders, and then bringing out food or cleaning tables. The redhead he worked with did just about the same, only instead of greeting customers he had to clean the tables and floor since he wasn't allowed near the entrance anymore after one of the _other_ incidents.

"... did you hear? There's like, been news of some freak walking around... naked!"

"No way! That's so gross! Where'd you hear _that_, Kairi?" Oh yeah, there was something that I forgot to mention; Luxord and Axel made it their favorite pass time on duty to eavesdrop. The blonde took a quick glance at his friend, who gave him the signal to keep listening by scratching the purple tattoo on his left cheek. The redhead departed to take someone's order, leaving the ex - gambler to finish cleaning up the table behind the teenage girl named "Kairi." Hey, it wasn't every day you heard rumors about someone streaking in this city.

"From Seifer, of course!" The other girl grinned and gasped, but remained silent for the most part to not interrupt the news, "anyways, so like... apparently, the pervert never appears in the same place twice and he's always out in the afternoon!"

"Eww, what a sicko!"

"I know, right? It's pretty weird..." and then they started giggling, the other girl bringing up the 'Seifer' person again, and that was the end of it. Returning to the kitchen, he ignored the surprised expression Axel gave him and went back to work without a word. In the end, it seemed the Streaker was only gossip for the younger crowd, most middle - aged adults and up doing what they can to keep away from such a topic.

"Maybe he's like the Ninja Turtles and lives in the sewers, and that's why he can turn up everywhere! Or... huh, you sure no one else had anything to say about the freak?" Luxord shook his head, hanging up his work clothes while Axel just tossed his in his locker, slamming the metal door closed after yanking on his jeans and black muscle tee. "Oh hey, here's an idea. Your friend who wants to slit my throat – what's his name? – you should ask him if he knows something."

"After what you did, I wouldn't mind killing you too if I was him." Axel looked at him with an expression of complete innocence, and the blonde knew it was useless trying to tell the other anything. He sighed, zipping his pants and grabbing his favorite fedora hat before silently closing his locker, "I'll ask him and tell you next week, Axel. Don't forget to lock up this time."

"Oh, come on! It was only _once_!"


	2. Chapter 2

_**5/8/o9**__ I am such a terrible Luxord, it makes my skin crawl. My description abilities could use work too. Oh well. Another slow, cruddy installment by me. My thanks to BeyondBirthday187 for adding this to your Alert list. _

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is rightfully Square Enix and Disney's property.

_I just enjoy destroying every shred of childhood memory it provides with my fanfiction. _

**Chapter Start**

"What o I owe such a pleasant visit?" What he meant was "what the fuck do you want?" Dragging Luxord inside and shutting the bolted steel door, the boy wiping his hands once he let go of his visitor. "Please speak." _Don't waste my time._

"Nice seeing you too, Zexion."

"Axel sent you. I'll ask again: what do you want?" Now he was being straight forward, sitting at one of his desks with crossed legs. Hollow aquamarine eyes watched him warily, almost angrily. "I know I am normally patient, but I can smell him on you, and it's making me sick. Take a shower if you plan to stay long." The blonde sighed, shrugging off his shirt and pants, Zexion tossing him a robe as replacement. Taking the discarded clothing, Luxord quickly yelled after him,

"Don't _burn_ them this time; I walked here." A laugh echoed from the hall his 'friend' disappeared in, his fears temporarily calmed when a washing machine sounded instead of flames. When the rich and moody fiend returned, he beckoned for Luxord to sit at the small, circular wood table in the kitchen while he made his way around the cupboards for tea. "Thank you. So, I have heard gossip about a na–,"

"Do you want mango raspberry, or are you feeling up to some Earl Grey?" Slightly vexed from being interrupted, the blonde shrugged to indicate he didn't care which he had, making a light joke by adding, "just hold the poison." His host smirked and set up the tea kettle, heading over to the cabinets again to pull out a box of snickerdoodles. Chewing one thoughtfully, he set the cookies in front of Luxord, finally seeming sincere in hospitality. "The Naked Man, or The Streaker. It amuses me how YouTube, LiveJournal and DeviantART are talking more about him than the News, considering how dangerous he is. Actually, I hear he recently has a tributary Myspace page. Would you like the address?" Luxord was still on the subject of some nude colonist being _dangerous_, shaking his head in reply for internet information,

"How do you figure?"

"No one seems to realize he's not just leaping around the city," Zexion said softly, ignoring the question, "but the world. Other countries have reports of him, though a detail or two changes about his appearance. Hold your tongue." Munching on another cookie, the bluehead attended to serving his guest tea, dropping in a dab of honey before serving himself and gesturing for Luxod to follow him again. "This is the first of four videos where he displays violence. The quality is rather poor, but it's quite popular still; has 532, 046 views." With a sip of his tea and consecutive flicks of the wrist, the young man had an internet video playing in only seconds. "_Hey asshole, pay attention!_" It started with honking and a lousy focus, losing the ex - gambler's attention almost immediately. The blonde wasn't usually the type to question the other's intellect, but he had a small doubt about how many people watched this until he saw it was the exact number the boy predicted. About to bring this up, his heart just about caught in his throat as a ground - shaking sound that registered to Luxord as an exploding water pipe boomed, blue eyes snapping to the computer screen in time to see a Hummer smashed from the grill to the back seat windows, all folds of beaten fiber glass and aluminum scattered from one small focus point. The video finished then.

"What the bloody Hell was that?!" His shock and angry disgust was clear though he remained careful not to drop the expensive cup in his hand. The genius was too busy searching a different website, however, to care. Leaning away from the screen, he tilted his head towards it, an expectant and patient look on his face as he sipped his tea in silent contentment. It was a better quality photo than the trembling cell phone recoding of presumably a man's back from the center of the neck to below, well, sculpted derriere. The person must have had a very nice camera to capture such wondrous detail, because in the picture there were several other people and the focus point was noticeably far off. "He's huge. . .!" A majority of the crowd around the object of his curiosity barely reached beneath his shoulder blades though a few could face the middle. Zexion rolled his eyes, pinching the man's side.

"Wonderful observation, honestly, but that's not why I brought this up — could you quit _staring_!?" Luxord chuckled nervously, pale cheeks dusting pink. "Thank you. Please put your attention to him again, but the details of his skin." Raising embarrassed eyes to the Deviation again, he did as told. "He's. . . pure muscle. . .?" He received no answer, meaning he was missing the point. It was so irritating when Zexion made a game out of this; he would provide references and information, but create a puzzle out of most of it. "He. . . has a mild tan?" His bitter and enigmatic friend quietly drank his tea, dull silver - blue gaze resting on whatever he was waiting for the blonde to figure out. Letting out a frustrated groan, he scanned over the photograph again, close to throwing in the towel by now. "Could you just —," he started, silenced by particular markings on the Streaker's back. He hadn't put much thought into tattoos being strange, but upon careful observation, he noticed that the angle The Naked Man stood in revealed the black and purple ink _protruding _from his shoulder blades.

"Odd, isn't it? Almost no one mentions the wings; they're all too occupied with his body. They're real, in case you were wondering." Maneuvering the mouse, Zexion reopened the YouTube tab and played it again. This time Luxord watched, wobbly focus ascending quickly over the Streaker, man's dignity briefly viewable for a split second. There wasn't time to worry about such impropriety when this gossip legend left hooked the car's grid and crushed the entire front half effortlessly after that tremendous hissing sound was heard again. The bluehead paused to the part where the man prepared his punch, lips visible at the left end fo the screen while Luxord freaked.

"He's a monster!"

"But what _kind_?" The sincere curiosity and bristling excitement in that one inquiry petrified the guest, "He isn't human, Luxord, that is for sure. No amount of steroids will give someone that power, nor a body such as his. Seen here, his skin pigmentation is knitted with a kind of indigo, but in the photograph it isn't. The Streaker is better understanding what it means to appear human. . ." He shut the computer off, "Heed my advice and be wary of strays. I am anticipating his arrival soon." Clearly disturbed by an ominous, and _almost_ plausible foretelling, the blonde headed down a hall and snatched his clothes out of the washer machine, wringing them out the best he could and hastily putting them on. "Luxord –?"

"I'll air - dry. Thanks for the tea, Zexion." And with that, he made his very clumsy and quick escape from the friend he now deemed looney.

* * *

_Where is everything he once knew? Why is this place so foul and overpopulated by such ungrateful faux - beasts? They were small but great in number, and though they appeared as harmless as a faerie they carried remarkable and freakish weaponry. _

_He was so confused, having a difficult time staying awake after centuries of sleep, exposed to so many weird wonders in such a small amount of time. The growling yellow monster with one of those bratty humans in its belly, shouting at him was his first unpleasant experience here_, _aside from just having not an idea of what was going on. _

_Treading through the darker streets of this unholy place, indigo orbs rose to the sound of unsteady, heavy breathing and clapping, falling on a running human with short golden hair. He made no movement, muscles tensing to prepare for attack when the person slowed down, the obnoxious clacking sound decreasing volume as he did. _"Who knew he was the suspicious type. . . ?" _the human said, oblivious to the one who watched him. _


End file.
